Reading: Matthew
8:1-4; Leviticus 14
There is an account in
the gospels that puzzled me for a couple of decades—it is just that
it didn't seem to make sense. Jesus cleanses a leper, then tells the
former leper not to tell anyone what Jesus did but to go show himself
to the priest who would offer the sacrifices Moses prescribed. It
just seemed that the priests would get all the credit and Jesus would
get none. How could that be
in the interest of His Kingdom?
When
Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2A
man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if
you are willing, you can make me clean." 3Jesus
reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing,"
he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cleansed of his
leprosy. 4Then
Jesus said to him, "See that
you don't tell anyone.
But go, show yourself to the
priest and
offer the
gift Moses commanded,
as a testimony to
them."
(Matthew 8:1-4 NIV)
The
Role of the Priest
Part of the problem is
that I thought of the priests, as it relates to lepers, more in line
with doctors. The priests, however, had no ability to cleanse a
leper. He could not make a leper well nor clean. He could not make
him a leper either. He only did diagnoses and
then informed everyone whether the person in question was clean or
unclean. And if he determined that an unclean
person was now clean, there was an offering Moses told him to make.
I was also unfamiliar with what Moses had told them to offer.
When I understood
the role of the priest, and the nature of the offering, this text
suddenly made complete sense. First, I
understood that when the cleansed leper went to the priest, the
priest would unwittingly confirm the power of Christ to cleanse a
leper. The leper knew Jesus could cleanse him
if He was willing, but the priest would not have thought so. However,
the priest was a professional diagnoser of leprosy. If he declared
the man clean, rest assured, he was clean. By declaring him clean, he
was giving expert witness to the authenticity of the miracle.
Therefore the Law (Moses through this priest)
was testifying to Jesus.
The
Nature of the Gift
Second, when I saw the
nature of the “gift Moses commanded” I saw a beautiful portrait
of how Christ cleanses all
of us from our spiritual leprosy.
3The
priest is to go outside the camp and examine them. If they have been
healed of their defiling skin disease, 4the
priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedar wood,
scarlet yarn and hyssop be brought for the person to be cleansed.
5Then
the priest shall order that one
of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot.
6He
is then to take the live bird and
dip it, together with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the
hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh
water. 7Seven
times he shall sprinkle the one
to be cleansed of the defiling disease, and then pronounce them
clean. After that, he is to
release the live bird in the open fields.
(Leviticus 14:3-7 NIV)
This
offering could not more clearly point to Jesus than it does. In
this very act the leper would begin to get a clearer picture of how
Jesus' cleanses him, and we too get a clear picture of how Christ
cleanses us. Two birds are used. One
dies (a guilt bearing sacrifice), and one lives (a living sacrifice).
The blood of the first bird is mixed with water and the living
sacrifice is to be dipped in that blood/water combination
representing a cleansing (with blood) and then it is set free.
Ironically,
coming in contact with the blood doesn't make one unclean but clean.
The leper himself is sprinkled with the blood/water mixture too. He
is like the live bird. The leper, like
the living bird, goes free, while the blood of the sacrificed bird
makes that possible. Christ would
ultimately cleanse us with his own blood. He dies, we go free. What a
glorious picture.
The
Recipients of the Testimony
This
picture helps me answer one remaining question from Matthew 8:4. Who
is the “them” that this offering would be a testimony to?
There are 3 possible antecedents to the “them”. First, “anyone.”
“See to it that you don't tell anyone.” Second,
the priest. Third Moses. Those are the only people mentioned to whom
it could be referring. We can rule Moses out because at this point
Moses is quite clear on who Jesus is. And since “them” is
plural, and the “anyone” and priest are both singular, it must be
referring to both. Moses (the law) and the priest (under the law's
authority) would be testifying to the power of Christ to heal. This
testimony would be heard/seen by the priest himself and all the
“anyone's” that the leper might want to know. They would also
testify through this redemptive sacrificial picture of how Christ
through His own death would cleanse us of our spiritual leprosy
(sin).
This
concise account immediately follows the Sermon on the Mount. What a
glorious picture of how Christ calls us to live that sermon is.
However, the
Sermon on the Mount, as wonderful as it is, will never make us clean.
We can never live our way into cleansing. Rather, as this leper shows
us, the only way we can be clean is through Christ. One word from
Christ (“be clean”) will cleanse us completely and make us whole.
Why? Because it is backed by His sacrifice. He bore our guilt. We
are cleansed and now we are the living sacrifice (Romans
12:1) that
is set free to live in the glory of the Sermon on the Mount...
conformity to the image of Jesus Christ!
Love
the Gospel, Live the Gospel, Advance the Gospel,
Jerry
P.S. For an audio sermon
on this same subject go to
http://www.monergism.com/directory/link_category/MP3-Audio--Multimedia/Old-Testament-Sermons-By-Book/Leviticus/
